Hold My Hand not doing well :(
Lonelynation
Posts: 277
The man who co-created the new Michael Jackson single says he won't release any more of the songs they recorded together. Following the release of Hold My Hand, which failed to break the US top 20, Akon explained that the rest of his Jackson collaborations were incomplete when the singer died. "I might burn [them]," he said. "I would never put [them] out unfinished."
Released last Monday, Hold My Hand was the first official single from Michael, a posthumous collection of unreleased Jackson songs. It was the second album sample in as many weeks. On 7 November, Sony Music issued a track called Breaking News, hoping to quell rumours that some of Jackson's vocals on the album were "fake". However, not only have these rumours proven persistent – Hold My Hand has failed to light up the charts. It will be released in the UK on 28 November.
Speaking to MTV News, Akon said that Hold My Hand was one of the few unreleased Jackson tracks "that was actually fully complete". "The rest aren't," he said. "They're just ideas, concepts, and harmonies that the world will probably never see ... We've done plenty of records outside of this, but they were just incomplete ... I might just burn [them] after this interview."
This was more or less the attitude of Will.I.Am, another producer who had been working with Jackson before his death. "It's disrespectful," the Black Eyed Peas frontman said last week. "Michael Jackson songs are finished when Michael says they're finished. Maybe if I never worked with him I wouldn't have this perspective. [But] he was very particular." Earlier this summer, Will.I.Am insisted the new album "[shouldn't] ever come out". "Now that he is not part of the process, what are they doing?"
With Akon's and Will.I.Am's collaborations removed from the equation, and with Jackson's family raising questions about "Cascio tracks", it is not clear how much unreleased music is left. Certainly Sony, which signed a deal for 10 albums over seven years, will be counting on an estate vault containing "hundreds" of unreleased tracks. But instead of "new" songs, these may end up being B-sides, out-takes and alternate versions of earlier records. "There are a couple of songs we recorded for the Bad album that we had to cut that are just sensational," promised Tommy Mottola, Sony's former label head. R Kelly has also described a trove of unreleased Jackson collaborations.
Then again, Jackson's unreleased material may prove disappointing. While Hold My Hand proved a success in Sweden, Denmark and Italy, the song didn't even scrape the top 20 in the US, Canada, Australia or Ireland.
Michael, due on 10 December, contains 10 tracks, including colaborations with 50 Cent and Lenny Kravitz.
Found here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/nov/22/akon-michael-jackson
Comments
I desperately hope his album goes to #1. He deserves it
There might be 2 reasons for the song not doing well:
1/the rumors about BN being fake
2/the fact that HMH sound more like Akon's song, you barely hear MJ and it's not exactly his style.
Just my thoughts...
Maybe the video-clip will help?
People are bloodthirsty, they want gossip and rumors. Your statements make sense. <!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->
Here is the link
<!-- m -->http://idrag4mj.wordpress.com/2010/11/2 ... and-event/<!-- m -->
Blessings Always
Thanks for this information! I've retweeted this and hopefully Michael will get the recognition he deserves. Blessings.
You're absolutely right. Like here in Australia, Sony always screws over our artists. They did it to a guy named Shannon Noll who camed 2nd in the first series of Australian Idol. They made him release a greatest hits album after 3 albums and barely promoted his music. After years of crap Shannon finally got up and left and now he's about to release new music with Universal. They do it to plenty of their artists, if they don't like what they see and feel obliged to help them then they won't give any promotion etc. It seems to be a common theme with Sony artists and MJ's Hold My Hand is much the same Down Under. I think it got as high as like number 22 on iTunes the other week but thanks to absolutely no publicity it is now about to bottom out of the top 100 if it hasn't already <!-- s:( -->:(<!-- s:( -->
breaking news .. well I havent heard that on the radio at all.... but maybe thats because its not the first single....
I woudl think Hold my hand will start climbing on the charts soon... If not... "much too soon" sure will.. <!-- s:) -->:)<!-- s:) -->
#1. Sony is relying more on the name/ brand of Michael Jackson to sell. They might have the theory that "It's Michael Jackson, it'll sell. Minimal promotion required."
Fact is though, that promotion IS needed. Yeah, there has been a lot of internet promotion, but I have yet to see any television commercials or any other campaigns. Now, keep in mind I don't watch much TV, but still I figured I would have seen something. I know it's been talked about on news shows and talk shows etc. but that's about it. Heavy Metal bands that sell around 20,000 units per release get commercials all over the place. So an artist that's sold hundreds of millions of albums in his career can't get a few spots? Doesn't make sense.
Maybe it's just my market though. I do live in the middle of Kentucky, probably not a huge MJ audience around here. So maybe in the bigger cities they are seeing a little more?
#2. Sex, anger, and violence sells. This is a great song, but it's a very positive song with a great message. The kids today (14-21y/o) are buying the most music of any demographic. The violent, womanizing and drug endorsing hip-hop songs are killing all the charts. As for Rock music, it's heavy metal and emo that dominates. Then in the pop world the youngest stars with the most sex appeal, or cute appeal (in the case of Bieber, who is basically a teen sex symbol) are on top. Which brings me to point #3...
#3. The Pop (Top 40) world is ruled by the youngins.
It is my opinion that "Hold My Hand" should be marketed as "Adult Contemporary R&B". Sure, there are plenty of new, young MJ fans out there. But a good percentage of them are more than 30 years old and older. And if you're looking to gain some new fans with the Michael album, it's not going to be a lot of kids. The younger people are into the younger stars, sure a few of them will be open to the idea of buying the new MJ album. Most of them will choose Lady GaGa or Ke$ha instead, sadly. Michael Jackson is something their parents like, not many kids choose that path. It happens, but rarely.
So I say, target the older audience that still buys CDs. They are still out there, but their music purchases are few and far between. Remember, I'm talking general public here. Not necessarily you, or anyone you know.
Get the song into rotation on the adult contemporary stations and the KISS/MiX stations. Forget about the Top40 stations, put it on there but remember that it will probably take a backseat to the newer pop stars.
As for iTunes sales. That's an interesting system. iTunes and other services like it give the artist (in this case Michael's estate and family) more money per sale than if you buy a physical album in a store. If you buy in a store or online and have it shipped to you, the record company gets a bigger cut. So, I'd say Sony is going to promote the release of the album more than a single song. And they'll probably add some incentive to buying the album in store the day of release.
I haven't checked are any stores offering promo items (posters, key chains, t-shirts or stickers etc.) with the pre-order of the album? That's usually a ploy by a record company to sell more CD units to rip off more money from the artists.